Staff

Guðrún Þóra took over as director in March 2016. She has decades of experience in tourism and holds an MBA in Tourism Management from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Oregon, USA.
She led the development of the Department of Rural Tourism at Hólar University, where she served as head of department for 13 years before later becoming a lecturer in the same department. Guðrún also spent six years as a member of the Science and Technology Policy Council of Iceland and represented Iceland for several years on the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation (NORA) committee. In addition, she has participated in numerous committees and working groups related to tourism.
Guðrún’s research focuses primarily on rural tourism development and destination management.

Location: University of Akureyri - E-building - 206

• Email
• gudrunthora@rmf.is

Ása Marta joined ITRC in February 2021. 

She works on a variety of tourism research projects at both national and international levels.

Her research focuses on cruise tourism in the Arctic, island tourism, sustainable destination development with an emphasis on road infrastructure, and collaboration between the tourism industry and academia. She is also responsible for event management at ITRC.

Ása holds an M.Sc. degree in Sustainable Destination Development from Uppsala University in Sweden and a B.Sc. degree in Tourism from the University of Iceland. 

Location: Tæknigarður (207), Dunhaga 5, 107 Reykjavík

• 460-8931
• asamarta@rmf.is

Eyrún joined ITRC in 2008 and has worked on numerous projects in both national and international collaborations. Her research focuses on the interplay between transport, tourism and regional development with emphasis on visitor distribution, destination development in peripheral areas and the social impacts of tourism.

Eyrún holds a master’s degree in communication studies from Aalborg University, a bachelor degree in humanistic informatics from the same university and a bachelor degree in tourism studies from the University of Iceland.

Location: Tæknigarður (207), Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavík

• E-mail:
• ejb@rmf.is

Hans is a project manager and researcher. He has been a project manager and principal researcher in diverse (inter)national projects related to tourism and climate change, scientific tourism, and tourism in protected areas. Hans also teaches part-time at the University of Iceland in the courses Northern Tourism, Tourism and the Environment and Protected Area Management.
Hans holds a Ph.D. degree in tourism studies from University of Iceland and has a master’s degree in environment and natural resource management and a master’s degree in political social science both from the University of Amsterdam.
Hans has been appointed as a project manager (20% position) in connection with the RETURN project, starting on 1 April 2025 for a period of three years.

Location: Tæknigarður, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavík

• E-mail:
• hwelling@rmf.is

Vera started working at the ITRC as a researcher in mid-March 2018.

She has worked on various projects, mainly focusing on projects concerning cultural tourism but has also been involved in projects relating to tourists’ travel behaviours, women leadership, and Airbnb in rural communities.

Vera holds a master’s degree in sustainable heritage management, with a focus on cultural dissemination, from Aarhus University and a BSc degree in social anthropology from the same university.

Location: Tæknigarður (207), Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavík

• 525 5329
• verav@rmf.is

Þórný Barðadóttir joined the ITRC’s staff as a project manager in 2015 and has since early 2016 had a role of a researcher.

Þórný's main research focus has been on rural tourism and on-land tourism brought on by cruise visits. She has also focused her research towards procedures, management and decision making of the diverse stakeholders in the Icelandic cruise sector. Þórný has furthermore conducted surveys amongst cruise passengers in Icelandic cruise ports.   

Þórný is a PhD student in Tourism Studies at the University of Iceland. She holds a MA degree in Research Intensive Social Science and BA degree in Media Studies from the University of Akureyri.

Location: University of Akureyri - Borgir Research Building, 7th floor

• +354 895 4653
• E-mail:
• thorny@rmf.is

Andreas is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship, Coventry University which he joined in September 2019. His research interests extend across entrepreneurship, especially entrepreneurship education, graduate entrepreneurship and responsible entrepreneurship as well as issues relating to employment in the service industries, especially tourism and hospitality. Andreas continues to publish in these areas, including two recent books 'Youth Employment in Tourism and Hospitality: A Critical Review' (2015) and 'Entrepreneurship in Tourism' with Routledge (2019). Andreas is currently, with members of the Tourism Workforce Research Group, co-editing a book 'Tourism Employment in Nordic Countries: Trends, practice and opportunities' to be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020.

He was one of the founding members in 2017 of Tourism Workforce a research group at the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre that investigates employment issues as they apply to Nordic countries. He became an Affiliate Researcher at the Centre in October 2018 and continues to lead jointly with Íris Hrund Halldórsdóttir Tourism Workforce.

Location: Coventry University
Email: awalmsley@marjon.ac.uk 

• awalmsley@marjon.ac.uk

Dr. Desiderio Juan García-Almeida is professor of management at the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Tourism of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a leading institution in research on tourism and hospitality management in Europe. He completed his PhD with a doctoral thesis on knowledge transfer in hotel chains. Prior to that he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management, a Bachelor’s degree in Translation, and a Master’s degree in Tourism Management and Planning.

His research interests focus on knowledge management and innovation, management skills, immigration, entrepreneurship, family firms, and tourism and hospitality management. He has published several articles in academic journals such as the Service Industries Journal, Family Business Review, Tourism Management, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, and International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration. He teaches courses on organization, management skills, strategic management, competitiveness and destination management, and hospitality management. He is a regular visiting professor at the Faculty of Tourism at Munich University of Applied Sciences, and he cooperates with colleagues from the University of Iceland.

• dj.garcia@ulpgc.es

Georgette Leah Burns is an Associate Professor in the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, where she is also Deputy Director of the Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security. With a background in Environmental Anthropology, Leah’s work focusses on human-nature interactions, particularly in tourism settings. This ranges from research topics on sustainable rural development to ethical management of wildlife tourism and visitor experiences in natural and protected areas. Leah is a foundation member of the Wildlife Tourism Australia organisation and, in addition to 60+ book chapters and journal articles, is co-editor of Engaging with Animals: Interpretations of a Shared Existence (Sydney University Press, 2014). Leah lived and worked in Iceland (Icelandic Seal Centre and Hólar University) for three years and continues to maintain projects in the country. She is driven by a passion to understand human-animal relationships and enable a future in which people and wildlife more equitably co-exist.

• leah.burns@griffith.edu.au